NCAA champion Michigan had these three players taken in the first 12 picks of the NBA draft on Tuesday. From left are Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg as they arrive for the first round in New York. (AP photo)

NEW YORK — The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder were thinking big. Darius Acuff Jr. and Mikel Brown Jr. might be a matchup to watch among smalls.

And the one-and-done era is far from done.

Those were some of the things that stood out from the two-day NBA draft in Brooklyn, which started with the Washington Wizards taking AJ Dybantsa on Tuesday night with the No. 1 pick and continued with a number of trades in the second round Wednesday night. Among the things that stood out in between:

Spurs vs. Thunder

The Thunder had trouble with Victor Wembanyama in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs had trouble when Wembanyama wasn’t in the game in the NBA Finals.

Both teams took steps to address those big problems.

Oklahoma City took 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara from Michigan with the No. 12 pick. Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in 2022, struggled badly in the series that ended the Thunder’s title reign and the 260-pound Mara, the Big Ten defensive player of the year from Spain, could provide more of the physical presence they need.

“I’m excited to play against him, obviously, to play in the NBA,” Mara said about Wembanyama. “But I feel like I’m going to play against him a lot. If it’s not NBA, it’s going to be on the national team.”

The Spurs fell to the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals and Wembanyama at times looked exhausted, perhaps overworked because the Knicks were dominating when backup Luke Kornet was in the game.

Perhaps they can handle Wembanyama’s breaks better now after drafting 6-9 Jayden Quaintance from Kentucky and acquiring the rights to Tarris Reed Jr., the rugged big man who powered UConn to the national title game.

Small scoring guards

One of the pre-draft debates was who would go first when it came time for teams to start choosing among the smaller scoring guards in the class.

That moment arrived at the No. 6 pick. The Brooklyn Nets went with Mikel Brown Jr. from Louisville, a pick that seemed well received judging by the cheers in their home arena that hosted the draft.

“I think something that we saw with Mike was just how anxious and excited he was at getting out there in the NBA. ‘I got something to prove.’ It’s hard to measure,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “I think that’s something that will translate when you have a chip on your shoulder, you’re an extreme competitor.”

There were arguments for Darius Acuff Jr., and critics of the pick will only grow louder if Acuff looks like a better pro. He went with the next pick to Sacramento.

One-and-dones not done

The one sure thing in the NBA draft for years was that it would begin with a college freshman. From 2010, when Washington took John Wall, to 2022, when Orlando selected Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick was a player who spent one year in college.

That ended in 2023 when San Antonio took Victor Wembanyama. When Atlanta took fellow Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick in 2024, it was the first time that an international player who did not play at a U.S. college was selected first in consecutive years.

The one-and-dones have regained their place in a big way. The first eight picks were college freshmen, matching the record set last year, as were nine of the top 10 to match another record.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba